McDonald's confronts its junk food image

McDonald's confronts its junk food image

1of4McDonald's has a location at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. The company is trying to upgrade its reputation.﻿Photo: Eric Risberg, STF

2of4FILE- In this Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012, file photo, Carlos Gonzalez and Elsa Guzman eat breakfast at a McDonald's restaurant, in New York. McDonaldâs understands its reputation for serving cheap, greasy fare is a growing liability and is trying to change in a variety of ways. (AP Photo/Mark Lenniha, File)Photo: Mark Lennihan, STF

3of4FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2009 file photo, McDonald's employee Cortney Sobowiec hands a patron a salad at the drive up window at McDonalds in Williamsville, N.Y. McDonaldâs understands its reputation for serving cheap, greasy fare is a growing liability and is trying to change in a variety of ways. (AP Photo/David Duprey, file)Photo: David Duprey, STF

4of4Cooks prepare dishes of slow-cooked beef served with gnocchi fashioned out of McDonald's french fries and a fruit sauce from its smoothie mix during a dinner hosted by McDonald's for reporters and bloggers in New York. ﻿Photo: Candice Choi, STF

NEW YORK - At a dinner McDonald's hosted for reporters and bloggers, waiters served cuisine prepared by celebrity chefs using ingredients from the chain's menu.

A Kung Pao chicken appetizer was made with Chicken McNuggets doused in sweet and sour sauce and garnished with parsley. Slow-cooked beef was served with gnocchi fashioned out of McDonald's french fries and a fruit sauce from its smoothie mix. For dessert, its biscuit mix was used to make a pumpkin spice "biznut," a biscuit-doughnut hybrid.

The event, held in New York City's Tribeca neighborhood, was billed as "a transforming dining experience of 'fast food' to 'good food served fast.' "

The dishes aren't intended for McDonald's restaurants. Instead, the evening was part of a campaign by McDonald's to shake its reputation for serving cheap, unhealthy food. At a time when Americans are paying closer attention to what they eat, the company is trying to sway public opinion by first reaching out to "influencers" who write and speak about McDonald's.

It's just one way McDonald's is trying to change its image. In the past 18 months, the chain has introduced the option to substitute egg whites in breakfast sandwiches and rolled out chicken wraps as its first menu item with cucumbers. Last fall, it announced plans to give people the choice of a salad instead of fries in combo meals. And in coming months, mandarins will be offered in Happy Meals, with other fruits being explored as well.

CEO Don Thompson said early this year: "We've got to make sure that the food is relevant and that the awareness around McDonald's as a kitchen and a restaurant that cooks and prepares fresh high-quality food is strong and pronounced."

The company faces an uphill battle, especially if the past is any indication. The salads it introduced more than a decade ago account for just 2 to 3 percent of sales. And the chain last year discontinued its Fruit & Walnut salad and premium Angus burgers, which analysts said were priced too high for its customers at around $5.

The problem is that some people don't consider McDonald's a place to get high-quality food, in part because the prices are so low. And while McDonald's has added salads and a yogurt parfait over the years, Americans are gravitating toward other attributes, like organic produce and meat raised without antibiotics.

In some ways, the image McDonald's is battling is ironic, given its reputation for exacting standards with suppliers.

But even that reputation for supply chain rigor was recently tarnished when the chain's longtime supplier was reported to have sold expired meat to its restaurants in China.

The price conundrum

The low-cost burgers, ice cream cones and other food that made McDonald's so popular since it was founded in 1955 have come to define it. And some people can't get over the idea that low prices equal low quality.

"It's the whole perception people get when you sell something cheaply," said Richard Adams, who used to own McDonald's restaurants in San Diego and now runs a consulting firm for franchisees.

Menu tweaks

Adding to its challenge, McDonald's can't seem to raise prices without driving people away. Pressured by rising costs for beef and other ingredients, the chain tried to move away from the Dollar Menu in 2012 with an "Extra Value Menu" where items were priced at around $2.

But customers are apparently righteous about the $1 price point, and the strategy was scrapped. Last year, McDonald's changed its tactic a bit. It tweaked the name of the "Dollar Menu" to the "Dollar Menu & More."

The company continues to tweak the menu. The new Bacon Club burger McDonald's is promoting comes on a brioche bun and looks more like something that might be found at a trendy burger joint. It costs $5 or $6, depending on where you live.

Beyond the menu, the company is determined to take control of its narrative.

"We're going to start really, really telling our story in a much more proactive manner," Kevin Newell, a strategy officer for McDonald's, said late last year. He added that McDonald's has gone too long in "letting other folks frame the story for us."